Reconstructing Long-Term Changes in Avian Populations Using Lake Sediments: Opening a Window Onto the Past

Duda, Matthew P.; Hargan, Kathryn E.; Michelutti, Neal; Blais, Jules M.; Grooms, Christopher; Gilchrist, H. Grant; Mallory, Mark L.; Robertson, Gregory J.; Smol, John P.

doi:10.3389/fevo.2021.698175

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 199 publications

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“…Within this context, δ 15 N values from Kettle Lake sediments are highest during the zones with struvite (Figure 4). Thus, the data support higher δ 15 N values in the lake sediment organic matter as a marker of the presence of higher trophic level waterfowl in the lake environment, as observed in other ornithogenic sediments (Conroy et al, 2015; Duda et al, 2021; Hargan et al, 2017). The majority of the struvite layers and enriched δ 15 N values occur in the dry but variable Mid-Holocene.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Holocene relationships between climate, waterfowl, and lacustrine nutrient cycling at Kettle Lake, North Dakota, USA

et al. 2023

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Avian populations can substantially influence lacustrine nutrient loading and biogeochemical cycling through guano deposition. Here, we examine the influence of climate-forced avian migration throughout the Holocene on Kettle Lake, North Dakota, using stable nitrogen and carbon isotope values (δ15N, δ13C) of lake sediment organic matter. Carbon content and δ13C values are negatively correlated with δ15N and appear to be driven by changes in charcoal abundance and watershed vegetation, respectively. We find enriched δ15N values when the guano mineral struvite is present in the lake sediment core in the early to Mid-Holocene. A strong δ15N-percent Nitrogen content relationship during periods with struvite, relative to periods without struvite, indicates that guano deposition from mass bird visitations altered past nitrogen cycle processes, likely through enhanced denitrification. These results attest to the ability of waterfowl to alter lacustrine N-cycling in a mid-continental North American lake, and indicate that paleo-N data in this particular lake are recording a unique history that does not necessarily represent regional paleoenvironmental conditions. However, a significant, positive relationship between δ15N and Ambrosia and Amaranthaceae pollen abundance suggests avian visitation and its impacts on the N-cycle occurred during periods of anomalously wet summers superimposed on the background conditions of early to Mid-Holocene drought.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Holocene relationships between climate, waterfowl, and lacustrine nutrient cycling at Kettle Lake, North Dakota, USA

et al. 2023

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“…Interactions between seabirds and their environment have been particularly effective using faecal steroids as indicators of nearby colonies (reviewed by Duda et al ., 2021). The changing impacts of penguin colonies and vegetation types (e.g.…”

Section: Sedimentary Records Of Humans and Animals In Quaternary Land...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomarker proxies for reconstructing Quaternary climate and environmental change

McClymont,

Mackay,

Stevenson

et al. 2023

J Quaternary Science

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To reconstruct past environmental changes, a range of indirect or proxy approaches can be applied to Quaternary archives. Here, we review the complementary and novel insights that have been provided by the analysis of chemical fossils (biomarkers). Biomarkers have a biological source that can be highly specific (e.g. produced by a small group of organisms) or more general. We show that biomarkers are able to quantify key climate variables (particularly water and air temperature) and can provide qualitative evidence for changes in hydrology, vegetation, human–environment interactions and biogeochemical cycling. In many settings, biomarker proxies provide the opportunity to simultaneously reconstruct multiple climate or environmental variables, alongside complementary and long‐established approaches to palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Multi‐proxy studies have provided rich sets of data to explore both the drivers and impacts of palaeoenvironmental change. As new biomarker proxies continue to be developed and refined, there is further potential to answer emerging questions for Quaternary science and environmental change.

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“…Twenty-eight elements were measured and normalized against Al to account for the influence of catchment inputs (Duda et al, 2021a).…”

Section: Sediment Geochemistrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate oscillations drive millennial‐scale changes in seabird colony size

Duda

Cyr

Robertson

et al. 2022

Global Change Biology

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Seabird population size is intimately linked to the physical, chemical, and biological processes of the oceans. Yet, the overall effects of long‐term changes in ocean dynamics on seabird colonies are difficult to quantify. Here, we used dated lake sediments to reconstruct ~10,000‐years of seabird dynamics in the Northwest Atlantic to determine the influences of Holocene‐scale climatic oscillations on colony size. On Baccalieu Island (Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada)—where the world's largest colony of Leach's storm‐petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous Vieillot 1818) currently breeds—our data track seabird colony growth in response to warming during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (ca. 9000 to 6000 BP). From ca. 5200 BP to the onset of the Little Ice Age (ca. 550 BP), changes in colony size were correlated to variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). By contrasting the seabird trends from Baccalieu Island to millennial‐scale changes of storm‐petrel populations from Grand Colombier Island (an island in the Northwest Atlantic that is subjected a to different ocean climate), we infer that changes in NAO influenced the ocean circulation, which translated into, among many things, changes in pycnocline depth across the Northwest Atlantic basin where the storm‐petrels feed. We hypothesize that the depth of the pycnocline is likely a strong bottom‐up control on surface‐feeding storm‐petrels through its influence on prey accessibility. Since the Little Ice Age (LIA), the effects of ocean dynamics on seabird colony size have been altered by anthropogenic impacts. Subsequently, the colony on Baccalieu Island grew at an unprecedented rate to become the world's largest resulting from favorable conditions linked to climate warming, increased vegetation (thereby nesting habitat), and attraction of recruits from other colonies that are now in decline. We show that although ocean dynamics were an important driver of seabird colony dynamics, its recent influence has been modified by human interference.

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Reconstructing Long-Term Changes in Avian Populations Using Lake Sediments: Opening a Window Onto the Past

Cited by 13 publications

References 199 publications

Holocene relationships between climate, waterfowl, and lacustrine nutrient cycling at Kettle Lake, North Dakota, USA

Holocene relationships between climate, waterfowl, and lacustrine nutrient cycling at Kettle Lake, North Dakota, USA

Biomarker proxies for reconstructing Quaternary climate and environmental change

Climate oscillations drive millennial‐scale changes in seabird colony size

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